1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to expense tracking systems, and specifically to vehicle based, personal computer moderated expense tracking systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One burden common to all business travelers is the need to keep accurate expense records for billing and accounting purposes. This is especially true if expenses are expected to be deducted, since the Internal Revenue Service requires accurate contemporaneous record keeping on the part of the taxpayer.
A business traveler is especially burdened with record keeping if the business travel comprises a great number of short trips in a motor vehicle. It is easy to forget to keep contemporaneous and accurate mileage records for allocation to different clients and accounts.
The Internal Revenue Service requires the following information to support mileage deductions: (1) the purpose of the business travel; (2) the person(s) visited; (3) the date and time of the visit; and (4) the mileage traveled in making the visit. The recordation of this information places a burden on the traveling business person that annoys and distracts from the primary job obligation.
It is additionally burdensome for the business person to keep current records of out-of-pocket expenses incurred during travel, for assignment to particular accounts or ledgers.
The manager of traveling business persons is acutely interested in having an understanding of the daily routine of salesmen and the like. Elaborate paper-based record keeping systems are often devised to allow a manager to monitor the efforts of a sales or delivery force, and to keep track of travel and appointment times.
Several "trip" computers exist which assist vehicle drivers in tracking fuel consumption, and trip mileage. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,934, entitled "Vehicle Trip Computer," issued to Wahl et al. on Feb. 1, 1983, describes a system which interrelates speed, distance, time, and fuel consumption data on a multi-button panel with a numeric display. This system also gives and indication of the vehicle range of travel on the remaining fuel.
Likewise, the system of U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,905, entitled "Trip Computer For Vehicles," which issued on Jan. 14, 1987, to Masuda et al., discloses a vehicle "trip computer" which detects the distance traveled by the vehicle and the amount of fuel remaining in the fuel tank. This system will compute and display the capable travel distance of the vehicle in accordance with the detected data.
Other systems, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,638, entitled "Apparatus For Accumulating and Permanently Storing Statistical Information," which issued on Aug. 26, 1986 to Tsikos, includes a means for counting a variety of trip events, and for permanently storing data relating to the trip. Essentially, the system of the Tsikos patent records the "driving history" of the motor vehicle by recording information about the number and types of trips traveled by the motor vehicle during the life of the vehicle. Types of trips are classified. For example, trips of one mile or less are differentiated from trips of other lengths. By separately counting the number of trips in each trip category, a "trip mileage histogram" may be developed during the life of the vehicle. Information relating to the running time or engine speed of the vehicle may also be recorded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,368, entitled "Tachograph For Motor Vehicles," which issued on Feb. 17, 1987 to Mutz, discloses an apparatus for recording vehicle data, such as the time of day, the date, the driver's service hours, the driver's driving time, the driver's standby times, and the driver's rest times, the distance driven, and the speed driven. The system includes a means for printing the content of a memory card on paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,118, entitled "Mobile Incident Logger," which issued on Mar. 28, 1989, to Wilburn et al., discloses a mobile incident log suited for long-term, dedicated monitoring of on-board vehicle computers and their sensors. The system stores as incidents the microprocessor bus states, as well as microprocessor random access memory variables and external sensor input variables.
None of these monitoring systems fully satisfy the needs of today's business travelers.